Opponents of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Monday hailed an unprecedented show of public protest after the Russian strongman was loudly booed by the crowd at a no-holds-barred fight night. Putin faced whistles and boos on live television as he congratulated a Russian champion in the fighting — a sport in which the tough guy premier has always shown great interest — after his victory over an American. He climbed into the ring on Sunday evening after the blood-spattered bout between Russian heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko and Jeff Monson, but the start of his speech was drowned out by boos and whistles.
Viewers uploaded the television footage to YouTube, where it had been viewed more than 700,000 times on Monday afternoon. Putin hugs Emelianenko and launches into a speech, but appears to pause as the crowd greets his opening line with whistles and low-pitched booing. They only break into cheers when he praises Emelianenko as a “real Russian hero”. The speech was a rare public relations failure for the premier, whose television appearances are usually tightly stage-managed, although opinions varied on Monday as to whether the boos were specifically directed at Putin. The top news show on Channel One, later tightly edited the speech, showing only the one phrase that provoked a cheer.